......
America is a leading nation of the
world– very important. In Europe too, I have many many good friends. But
they are basically a Judeo Christian culture. Unlike in the Indian tradition,
nothing is mentioned (in Judeo Christian cultures) about meditation. It is just
about pray, pray, pray to God. Therefore, only India can further has the
potential to further develop these things, because in ancient India, over 3000
years ago, they practiced the training of the mind besides prayer. We have to
revive ancient Indian knowledge, because India is the only nation that can
combine modern knowledge — materialistic sort of knowledge– with ancient Indian
knowledge about how to tackle our emotions. No other country can do that.
Because ancient Indian thought is not alien to modern Indians. So I see great
potential in India.
So first, we have to revive this
combination of ancient Indian knowledge which brings inner peace and wisdom
with modern education that brings us physical comfort and material development.
So, we combine these two things. If we attain success here, then China
with another one billion human beings will definitely pay attention. Reason:
the Nalanda tradition is not alien for the Chinese Buddhist mind. In China,
historically Buddhism has been practiced according to the Nalanda tradition.
Today China has the biggest Buddhist population in the world with over 400
million Buddhists. Recently, in some meeting, Xi Jinping also mentioned that
Buddhism is useful for Chinese culture and helpful to the Communist party. If
China follows, then Japan, Korea, Vietnam will all show interest in these
things. The whole of Asia can follow.
In ancient time, in the spiritual
field, India was the imperialist. Buddhism came from India. Buddha,
Nagarjuna, all the Nalanda masters are India. Their message covered the whole
of Asia. That training your mind is the key thing, not just prayer. The way of
training is not by faith but by investigation. You have to analyse, analyse. It
is very much similar to the scientific way. Investigation and experiment.
In ancient India, this tradition of mental training went side by side with
modern science. I feel that in modern India too, we can revive India’s ancient
wisdom. That is my priority.
...
I have four commitments. My first
commitment is to bring unity among all humans in this earth. To bring a
sense of oneness among all 7 billion human beings. The second is to bring a
sense of harmony among religious traditions. In that context, I always mention
India because it has many homegrown religions– Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism– and
many religions that found a home here. My third commitment is the preservation
of Tibetan culture and language because of the ideas they hold. My fourth
commitment is the revival of ancient Indian wisdom. I want to do it in a
strictly secular way so that non-believers can get as much as the believers.
So to do these three things, I may
have ten years. I am 83 now. Perhaps till I am 93. After that, too old
(laughs).
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